The Morning After
by whitecrossgirl
Summary: It's the morning after the Battle of Hogwarts and Andromeda Tonks arrives at Hogwarts with Teddy looking for her daughter and son-in-law


_AN: I know it's been done to death but I wanted to write this. also because it's mainly Andromeda's viewpoint, Tonks is known as Nymphadora._

In the early hours of May the second 1998 Andromeda couldn't sleep and paced the living room over and over. Hogwarts was the battleground for the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix and as both Voldemort and Harry Potter were at the school; both Nymphadora and Remus had gone to fight. Both had promised to send word whenever it was over. When Teddy cried in the night she took him downstairs and paced with him over and over around the living room and set him in his playpen. As the night passed and dawn approached and there was still no word from Nymphadora or Remus, Andromeda began to get scared. Finally at half past five in the morning as the morning sun was rising, a cat Patronus appeared in front of her.

"It's over; Voldemort is dead for good. Come to Hogwarts as soon as possible." The Patronus said with the voice of Minerva McGonagall.

Andromeda almost fell to her knees with relief. You-Know-Who was dead. It was finally over. She picked Teddy out of his living room cot and danced around with him. She had done the same thing with Nymphadora sixteen years beforehand, Teddy gurgled happily as she spun them around. It was over! The war was truly over! They were safe again and You-Know-Who was dead for good!

Andromeda quickly changed Teddy but through her glee a sense of dread crept within her. Why had Minerva contacted her? Why hadn't Nymphadora or Remus? Were they hurt or worse? Andromeda shook her head. She was being foolish. They had survived much worse and she would walk into the Great Hall to see them alive and well. Andromeda turned on the spot and Appapriated into Hogsmeade and began making her way to the castle. Her heart grew worried as she saw the damage done to the towers and grounds. There were shards of glass, stone rubble and drops of blood littered all over the steps of the castle and the floor of the Entrance Hall.

There was a loud chatter coming from the Great Hall. Andromeda stepped inside to see large numbers of people at each table who were eating with their families. The Weasleys were grouped together, a large mass of red hair. As she walked up, some people gasped before seeing Teddy in her arms and realising that this was not Bellatrix back from the dead. Andromeda spotted several families she recognised, even Narcissa and her family but not the married couple she was desperately seeking.

"Andromeda," Minerva McGonagall walked towards her. The transfiguration teacher wore marks of the battle, gashes on her face and her hair hanging down from its usual neat bun.

"Where are Nymphadora and Remus?" Andromeda asked looking around for a scarred face or a burst of bubble gum pink hair.

"I'm sorry Andromeda," Minerva said shaking her head and in that second her worst fears were concerned.

"No," Andromeda denied stepping back.

"I'm afraid so, Remus was duelling Dolohov and Nymphadora was fighting…" Minerva's voice trailed off. How do you tell someone their sister killed her own niece? But Andromeda knew at once.

"Bellatrix," Andromeda finished. "I want to see them."

Minerva led her into the chamber off the Great Hall where the bodies had been placed. Andromeda felt tears prick her eyes. Most of the students were still in their uniforms or pyjamas and one of the Weasley boys was there too. However it wasn't until that she was looking down on her own daughter and son-in-law did Andromeda burst into tears. Handing Teddy over to Minerva and falling to her knees, she stroked her daughter's hair and face and patted Remus's head. Andromeda placed her hand on each of their necks and if their still figures hadn't confirmed it; the lack of pulse did.

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" the scream came from her mouth and kept coming over and over again as her body filled with loss and anguish. Tears fell on both her baby girl and the man she had come to love as a son. They were young, too young to die. They hadn't been married for even a year and what about Teddy? He was barely a month old and now was an orphan. Never again would she see Nymphadora dance with Remus to whatever song was playing on the radio or hear Remus read to both her and Teddy. Andromeda's body shook as she wept and didn't even notice someone putting their arms around her and leaning onto their shoulder. She cried until her eyes were bloodshot and screeched until her throat was sore. When the tears subsided for a while the person holding her handed over a tissue and Andromeda blew her nose and wiped her eyes.

"You get away from us." Andromeda said moving away from the woman kneeling beside her.

"I tried to stop her. They were duelling and I spotted them as I was looking for Draco. I yelled to Bella that it would be pointless to kill her and to leave her but I saw Draco fall and went to check on him. I turned away and I heard Dolohov cast a Killing curse and I heard her screaming and I knew that Bella did it." Narcissa said in a whisper.

"She had a name. Her name was Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin. She was twenty five years old and her three week old son is out there with Minerva McGonagall. So if you'll excuse me." Andromeda said and kissed both Nymphadora and Remus' foreheads and left the chamber.

Narcissa waited a moment looking at her dead niece and crossed to the doorway to see Andromeda take Teddy and walk over to the Weasleys where Molly wrapped her in a hug and sat her down beside her and Ginny. Narcissa looked back at her niece and the werewolf's bodies.

"I really did try to stop her." Narcissa whispered and walked out of the chamber and re-joined her husband and son.

_Flashback_

_Through the chaos of the Hogwarts Battle Narcissa Malfoy was running through the duelling crowds searching for her son. Flashes and bangs and explosions echoed around her but all she cared about was reaching Draco. Narcissa stopped though when she heard her sister taunting a young woman who she was duelling. Beside Bellatrix, Dolohov was duelling the werewolf Remus Lupin._

"_Well, well, well if it isn't little Nymphadora? Come to help the wolf man fight the Big Bad Death Eaters?" Bellatrix taunted firing curse after curse at their disgraced sister's daughter. Narcissa kept running up the stairs with a shield charm around her as she looked back at the duel._

"_You'll never win! This is ending tonight!" Nymphadora replied with her own hexes. _

"_Oh really? Will you and the Wolf Man be going back to your cub afterwards?" Bellatrix asked._

_Cub? Oh yes, they had received word that their sister had become a grandmother. Narcissa knew in that moment that she couldn't let the girl die, even though the girl was a half-blood she was still a baby's mother and was also their niece. Andromeda's daughter. The girl shouldn't have to die, nobody should. Narcissa hadn't wanted to be part of this in the first place. She no longer cared whether or not Voldemort or Potter won tonight._

"_Bellatrix leave her alone! She isn't worth it!" Narcissa yelled._

"_Exactly Cissy the half-blood and the werewolf aren't worth it. They don't deserve to live!" Bellatrix yelled back and Nymphadora hit her with a hex. Narcissa turned and saw Draco fall and rushed over to help her son. The second she turned her back she heard Dolohov yell a Killing Curse. This was followed by a woman shouting 'No Remus!' and a second flash of light and the unmistakable laugh of her sister. As she supported Draco to his feet, Narcissa turned back to see the werewolf and her niece lying on the ground dead._

Narcissa shook her head and walked back to Lucius and Draco who were preparing to leave. They needed to go back to the Manor and await their fate. She knew that Azkaban was a certainty; they couldn't pretend that Lucius and Draco had been hoodwinked this time. As she walked towards them, Narcissa tried to convince herself that the tears in her eyes were for Bellatrix and her husband and son. They were not for Andromeda or her daughter or even the green haired baby in her sister's arms.


End file.
